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 Community Garden Until breaking ground at the 1700 St. Roch Avenue site, the Faubourg St. Roch Project is pleased to now offer a community garden to St. Roch residents. In partnership with the St. Roch Community Church and through the hard work of 12 St. Louis, MO teens, 1700 St. Roch Avenue currently serves as a gathering place for the neighborhood. The volunteer group was coordinated and led by the United Hebrew Congregation and the Central Reform Congregation, both St. Louis-based organizations. Through grit and sweat, the group cleaned debris, cut weeds, and turned soil to prepare individual gardening plots. The St. Roch Community Church (SRCC) has played a vital role in the community garden's development. Led by Ben McLeish, SRCC's Business & Development Director, the Church helped to oversee the volunteer group, supplied gardening tools, and performed all necessary follow-up work after the volunteer group's stay, including the installation of a water line. With prep work complete, the community garden now provides a shared space for the neighborhood, and local residents have begun to cultivate the plots of land. Their plantings range from fresh produce to decorative flowers. Maintained by 10 neighborhood volunteers under the leadership of McLeish, the garden offers a casual gathering place for St. Roch residents, and also helps to enhance access to fresh produce in a neighborhood that is lacking in fresh foods and grocery stores. "The community garden is providing a common ground for neighbors to enjoy each other and the fruits of their labor," says McLeish. The community garden will serve as a link for the St. Roch neighborhood as FSRP prepares for construction of housing and the FSRP community office on the 1700 St. Roch Avenue site. "It may be only one single lot, but the process of transformations such as 1700 St. Roch Avenue—from a blighted, crime-infested property to a gathering place for residents—are stepping stones on the path to neighborhood revitalization," says FSRP Founder and Board President Drew Lang. Click the images below to see photos of the volunteer group and community garden. 
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